polyurethane Furniture bedding

polyurethane Furniture bedding

Modern homes and offices would be far less comfortable without polyurethanes. Flexible polyurethane foams are soft, yet provide good support, durable, and maintain their shape. They are an excellent and safe filling material for seating cushions and mattresses and can be produced to the density required by the manufacturer. Their versatility allows designers to use the full scope of their imagination when creating new products.

Polyurethane foams adapt to and support the body’s contours. Memory foam is a popular form of polyurethane, which adapts to the shape of a person’s body, ensuring restful sleep. It is widely used in hospitals, where it helps to prevent pressure sores in people who are bed-bound over long periods of time.

For end-of-life furniture and bedding, the polyurethane contained within can be used as an energy source, helping to conserve the Earth’s precious resources. New developments in the production and use of polyurethanes mean that they will continue to offer design, safety and environmental benefits well into the future.

The use ofpolyurethane foamin refrigerators

Rigid polyurethane insulating foam makes a major contribution to sustainability and eco-design by reducing the energy required to keep refrigerators and freezers cold.

Polyurethane rigid foam is the insulating material which is most widely used throughout the world for refrigerators and freezers. The insulation efficiency of polyurethane foams is a key property for the low temperature preservation of food during processing, storage and distribution to the consumer. Without polyurethane insulated refrigeration, approximately 50% percent of the world’s food would rot, heavily influencing our daily life and food related business.

Polyurethanes are ideal for the insulation of refrigerating appliances and have major advantages as they are:

excellent insulators

structurally strong thanks to the rigidity of the foam and adhesion of external skins (plastic and metal)

the most cost-effective manufacturing solution, with multiple operations combined into one

effective in confined spaces, allowing the maximum amount of food to be stored

safe

robust and strong

very light, thus reducing transportation costs

affordable, keeping the costs of refrigerators and freezers down

This means that ever more stringent energy standards can be met, with benefits to the consumer through lower energy bills and a reduction in energy used. As shown below, EU energy efficiency initiatives have resulted in considerable energy savings since 1990.

Lower energy consumption due to polyurethane use

Even when using small amounts of the material, the low thermal conductivity of polyurethanes results in excellent insulation, leaving a large useful space for the consumer. In addition, polyurethane rigid foams have a long service life. Fridges can consume up to 30% of total household electricity, so energy efficiency makes a real difference. Because of the introduction of polyurethanes into refrigerators, models designated A++ today are 60% more efficient than refrigerators 15 years ago.

The graph below illustrates just how much energy has been saved in European households by the use of polyurethanes:

The use of polyurethane foam in refrigerators

According to the EU Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive 2002/96/EC, “white goods” such as refrigerators and freezers are subject to recovery and recycling targets across Europe. Foam from the appliances can be extracted and either recycled or used as fuel, depending on national infrastructures, further helping to conserve natural resources.

Polyurethanes provide outstanding design properties for fridges

Polyurethanes provide not only excellent insulation properties, but offer also outstanding design qualities. This is because the same material – polyurethane – can be used for both refrigerator housing and insulation. The only difference is the material’s density. Polyurethanes used for refrigerators’ doors enable the manufacturers to produce both parts with just a solid, void-free surface. Polyurethanes prove especially valuable from a design perspective, because with just one application of a surface coating the finish is impeccable. No additional post-finishing is necessary.

پارسیان عایق گستر گیتی فروشنده و مجری عایق حرارتی پلی یورتان در ایران

The use ofpolyurethane foamin refrigerators

Applications and uses of polyurethanes

Applications and uses of polyurethanes

Polyurethanes are found just about everywhere in modern life; the chair you are sitting on, the bed you sleep in, the house you live in, the car you drive – all these, plus innumerable other items you use every day, probably contain polyurethanes.

This section explores some of the more common applications of polyurethanes and provides an insight into their use. It shows how versatile they are and also how they help to protect the environment by conserving energy.

Minus 20 degrees Celsius: A frozen pizza must not get any warmer than that before it makes its way into the consumer’s freezer. And polyurethane rigid-foam insulation made by BASF Polyurethanes is an integral part of this logistical “cooling feat”. But the insulation not only has to be efficient in terms of retaining the cold but also has to behave sustainably when it comes to energy and material consumption. Polyurethane experts from Lemfoerde have conducted an Eco-Efficiency Analysis in order to determine how large the differences are when insulating materials of different thicknesses are used in freezer warehouses or freezer trucks where frozen pizza is stored or transported. The findings indicate that if all of the storage facilities, freezer chests and transport vehicles were to be insulated with polyurethane rigid foam having an optimized insulating thickness, then 16 times more energy could be saved than is needed for the production of the insulating material.

Eco-Efficiency Analysis of the cold chain

Already back in 1996, BASF cooperated with the consultancy Roland Berger to develop the Eco-Efficiency Analysis. It is a comparative instrument that yields a holistic evaluation of products and processes by looking at the entire life cycle of a given object. Using this instrument, BASF Polyurethanes specialists from Lemförde together with the Öko-Institut (Institute for Applied Ecology) in Freiburg, Germany, have examined the eco-balance of the cold chain.

The cold chain starts when a freshly made pizza is quick-frozen and subsequently deep-frozen. It goes to the freezer warehouse, travels in the freezer truck, is put into the freezer chest of the supermarket and then into the freezer of the final consumer. On the average, the journey of a complete pallet of frozen food takes 75 days from the warehouse to the household freezer. If the latest generation of polyurethane insulation made by BASF Polyurethanes is used in optimal thickness in all of the cooling segments, the analysis shows that, already after this short period of time, 16 times more energy is saved than the amount that went into the production of the insulating material. At the same time, modern insulation made of polyurethane not only improves the energy balance but also reduces CO2 emissions.

Three PU grades for the cold chain

Fundamentally speaking, the better the insulation effect, the less energy has to be used for the actual cooling. Various polyurethane systems are used nowadays for insulation purposes. BASF Polyurethanes has three innovative system groups in its portfolio: Elastocool®, Elastopir® and Elastopor®. Thanks to this polyurethane insulation tailored for use and efficiency – Elastocool for refrigerators and freezers, Elastopir for refrigerated warehouses and cold-storage cells, and Elastopor for freezer chests, truck trailers and transportation boxes – the energy and raw material consumption as well as the emissions can be considerably reduced. The rigid-foam insulation made of polyurethane stands out especially for its very low thermal conductivity resulting from the combination of a fine, closed-cell foam structure and heat-insulating cell gases. Owing to the low thermal conductivity and the good physical properties such as the low density, polyurethane is the insulation material most frequently found in the cold chain.

Clear-cut energy savings with thicker insulation layer

For every specific cooling step, the Eco-Efficiency Analysis of the cold chain compared polyurethane insulation made of the same material but with different thicknesses. Accordingly, the difference does not lie in the material itself, but rather, in the thickness of the insulation since the PU foam is already highly efficient. The thinner insulation used as the reference in the analysis is the thinnest insulation layer used in the cold-chain segment and still available on the market today. A closer look at an appliance such as a freezer shows that a model whose insulating material is 50 millimeters thick can be compared to a freezer that is optimally insulated with polyurethane that is 60 millimeters thick. The Eco-Efficiency Analysis shows that a modern appliance with BASF polyurethane insulation has an energy-savings factor of 20:1. Such an appliance literally becomes a piggy bank since within a mere seven days – this is the duration of this part of the examined cold chain – this freezer saves 20 times more energy than is required for the production of the polyurethane. Extrapolated over an entire year, this would rise to a factor of roughly 1040:1.

This energy balance, which is related only to the polyurethane insulation, not only affects the monthly energy costs but also has a lasting impact on the carbon dioxide emissions. Calculated on the basis of an average cold chain of such an appliance, this translates into an improvement of 15 percent. Whereas a freezer with insulation that is 50 millimeters thick emits 23 kilograms of CO2 in seven days, the model with insulation that is 60 millimeters thick, emits only 15.5 kilograms of CO2 over the same period of time. These figures already include the production and the disposal of the polyurethane rigid foam. At the same time, more than 15 percent of the requisite resources can be saved during the production of the insulating material – currently primarily fossil fuel resources whose supply is known to be finite. Consequently, consumers who own freezers with insulation that is ten millimeters thicker make a huge contribution to energy savings. And such savings are already achieved when the frozen pizza makes its way through the cold chain and stays in the freezer for a mere seven days before it is eaten.

As far as the total cold chain of 75 days is concerned, the Eco-Efficiency Analysis of BASF Polyurethanes demonstrates that each pallet of frozen food will emit 5.3 kilograms less CO2. This is an improvement of 13 percent. And in spite of the need for more resources to produce the thicker polyurethane insulation, the amount of resources saved during the utilization phase is so great that a plus of 12 percent remains at the end of the cold chain. This result is the outcome of just the difference in the thickness of the insulation of this generation of BASF polyurethane rigid foams which are, in fact, already very efficient.

BASF Polyurethanes offers three innovative insulation materials for the cold chain: Elastocool® for refrigerators and freezers, Elastopir® for refrigerated warehouses and cold-storage cells, and Elastopor® for freezer chests, truck trailers and transportation boxes. The efficiency of different polyurethane systems in the cold chain has lately been scrutinized by means of an eco-efficiency analysis. Findings indicate that if all of the storage facilities, freezer chests and transport vehicles were to be insulated with polyurethane rigid foam having an optimized insulating thickness, 16 times more energy could be saved than is needed for the production of the insulating material.

Photo: BASF, 2010 – The press photos are only available cost-free to editorial offices for the purpose of editorial publications. BASF’s copyright ought to be respected. We would appreciate a voucher copy of your magazine.

شرکت پارسیان عایق گستر گیتی فروشنده و مجری عایق پلی یورتان در ایران

Fridges and freezers

Rigid polyurethane insulating foam makes a major contribution to sustainability and eco-design by reducing the energy required to keep refrigerators and freezers cold.

Polyurethane rigid foam is the insulating material which is most widely used throughout the world for refrigerators and freezers. The insulation efficiency of polyurethane foams is a key property for the low temperature preservation of food during processing, storage and distribution to the consumer. Without polyurethane insulated refrigeration, approximately 50% percent of the world’s food would rot, heavily influencing our daily life and food related business.

Polyurethanes are ideal for the insulation of refrigerating appliances and have major advantages as they are:

excellent insulators

structurally strong thanks to the rigidity of the foam and adhesion of external skins (plastic and metal)

the most cost-effective manufacturing solution, with multiple operations combined into one

effective in confined spaces, allowing the maximum amount of food to be stored

safe

robust and strong

very light, thus reducing transportation costs

affordable, keeping the costs of refrigerators and freezers down

This means that ever more stringent energy standards can be met, with benefits to the consumer through lower energy bills and a reduction in energy used. As shown below, EU energy efficiency initiatives have resulted in considerable energy savings since 1990.

Lower energy consumption due to polyurethane use

Even when using small amounts of the material, the low thermal conductivity of polyurethanes results in excellent insulation, leaving a large useful space for the consumer. In addition, polyurethane rigid foams have a long service life. Fridges can consume up to 30% of total household electricity, so energy efficiency makes a real difference. Because of the introduction of polyurethanes into refrigerators, models designated A++ today are 60% more efficient than refrigerators 15 years ago.

The graph below illustrates just how much energy has been saved in European households by the use of polyurethanes:

According to the EU Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive 2002/96/EC, “white goods” such as refrigerators and freezers are subject to recovery and recycling targets across Europe. Foam from the appliances can be extracted and either recycled or used as fuel, depending on national infrastructures, further helping to conserve natural resources.

Polyurethanes provide outstanding design properties for fridges

Polyurethanes provide not only excellent insulation properties, but offer also outstanding design qualities. This is because the same material – polyurethane – can be used for both refrigerator housing and insulation. The only difference is the material’s density. Polyurethanes used for refrigerators’ doors enable the manufacturers to produce both parts with just a solid, void-free surface. Polyurethanes prove especially valuable from a design perspective, because with just one application of a surface coating the finish is impeccable. No additional post-finishing is necessary.

شرکت پارسیان عایق گستر گیتی فروشنده و مجری عایق پلی یورتان در ایران

Fridges and freezers

List of polyurethane applications

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Polyurethane foam made with an aromatic isocyanate, which has been exposed to UV light. Readily apparent is the discoloration that occurs over time. This particular foam piece is approximately four inches wide and 1½ inches thick.

Polyurethane products have many uses. Over three quarters of the global consumption of polyurethane products is in the form of foams, with flexible and rigid types being roughly equal in market size. In both cases, the foam is usually behind other materials: flexible foams are behind upholstery fabrics in commercial and domestic furniture; rigid foams are inside the metal and plastic walls of most refrigerators and freezers, or behind paper, metals and other surface materials in the case of thermal insulation panels in the construction sector. Its use in garments is growing: for example, in lining the cups of brassieres. Polyurethane is also used for moldings which include door frames, columns, balusters, window headers, pediments, medallions and rosettes.

In many areas of industry 2-component PU-Systems are among the most used bonding systems. One of the outstanding advantages of a 2K PUR is the wide range of adjustability of its characteristics. The rapid development of new ranges of substrates and processes creates always changing demands on the adhesive mechanisms, from the small speedy fixation to any large area bonding operation. Al thinkable bonding operations are actually possible, from manual application to automated processing.

VIP developed an “Industrial Standard” through its 2K PowerMix Universal recipes. With an outstanding application consistency 2K Power Mix is the ideal solution for repairing, gap filling, sealing and bonding. In general 2K-systems always stands for controlled and fast cure and makes bonding independent from surrounding temperature, humidity and bead thickness.